Benny, the Big Brown Bat

Benny's crying again. Benny cries a lot.

'Cause Benny's lonely again. He's lonely a lot.

You see, Benny doesn't have many friends. Actually, Benny doesn't have any friends. He doesn't have a mom or a dad, or a sister or a brother, or cousins, or aunts or uncles, or nieces or nephews, or anyone. But it's not because Benny is a hairy, big brown bat that he doesn't have any friends or family. No, it's because the fire monsters got them! Benny is the only one from his whole family that the fire monsters didn't get.

Here, let me tell you the story of Benny, the Crying Bat.

Now it chanced that one evening, Benny, the big brown bat, was very hungry, and he stayed out very late eating lots of bugglebum beetles and sopsickle suzzlers and muffleduff maguiters, and all kinds of really good juicy stuff like that.

But, when Benny finally got home the next morning, there was a lot of smoke pouring out from the cave where he lived with his family and friends. The smoke was already so thick that he couldn't see in. Benny was so afraid. He couldn't see anything, and he couldn't hear anyone, and he didn't know what to do. At first he just flew around and around and around hoping that maybe somehow, someway, his family and friends would be able to get out of the cave. But they never came out.

Then he saw the fire monsters! They were hideously huge, ghostly pale, furless, long-legged monsters. They were coming at him with fire in their hands! With a screech Benny took off. Faster and faster he flew. All he knew was that he had to get away, farther and farther away, from those horrible, ugly, fire monsters. The wind in his face caused his tears to fall away from his eyes. Farther and farther away he flew.

Soon Benny was so tired, his wings could barely keep him aloft. The sun hurt his eyes, and he was lost and scared. Sad, Benny didn't know where he was or where he could go. Finally, when he thought he couldn't take another wing beat, he saw it. There, down by the lake, an old broken-down boathouse next to a battered, burnt, and beaten-down bungalow. "Surely no one could be living there," thought Benny. One thing Benny did know for sure was that he could never go back to his colony in the cool, cozy cave in the hills, even if he could have found it again. That's where the fire monsters were! And so it was that Benny moved into the rafters of that old broken-down boathouse. It was there that he spent most of his days, just like today, hanging upside down from one of the rafters, crying.

What Benny didn't know was that today was going to be a different kind of day. It just so happened that a little boy had been sitting on the rickety old dock next to the old broken-down boathouse, watching Benny for quite a while. All that while the little boy had been wondering just what could have, or would have, caused a rather ferocious-looking, hairy, brown bat to cry.

Lenny, for that was the boy's name, had never seen a bat close-up before, so he couldn't be absolutely absolute, or positively positive, or certainly certain, that the bat was crying. But it sure looked like it was. And then every minute or so, a tear plopped in the water of the lake right underneath that bat. Plop! Plop! Plop! Finally, Lenny decided to get an even closer look to see if he was right. He got up quietly and walked gingerly across the planks of that rickety old dock next to the old broken-down boathouse. Without really thinking about what he was doing, he said to the bat, "Why are you crying, Mr. Bat?" When Lenny said that, he scared Benny, the big brown bat, so badly that Benny fell right off the rafter he was hanging from and nearly landed in the lake. Benny caught himself just in the nick of time, and he quickly flew back up, ready to face and fight whoever had intruded on his very private pity party.

Benny wasn't at all prepared for what he saw next, for when he saw Lenny, he thought that the fire monsters had finally found him. He let out a terrible screech that sounded something like "mmonsssttteeerrr!" This scared Lenny, and Lenny screamed even louder something that sounded like "aaarrrggghhh!" Right then, Benny and Lenny took off in opposite directions as fast as they could go, Lenny running up the rickety old dock, and Benny flying up and out of the old broken-down boathouse.

Now, that might have been the end of the story, right then and there, but all of a sudden, both Benny and Lenny stopped right in their tracks! Benny stopped because he suddenly realized that the monster had "talked" to him and asked him something. Lenny stopped because he suddenly realized that the hairy, big brown bat had "talked" to him and called him something, something that sounded very much like "monster!"

Benny couldn't be sure, but to the best of his knowledge he didn't speak monster, so he didn't know how he could understand what the monster had said to him. Lenny was wondering if that hairy, big brown bat had really called him a monster. And so it was, that ever so slowly, they both turned back towards each other. Benny, fluttered above the dock, wondering what he should do next. Lenny stood there, one foot on the dock and one foot ready to make a break for it, wondering what he should do next. Finally, Lenny looked up bravely at the fluttering, hairy, big brown bat and said, "Did you just call me a monster, Mr. Bat?"

"Well aren't you?" asked Benny.

"No, you're the monster," said Lenny. "Just look at your beady little eyes, and your scary sharp fangs, and your hairy brown body, and your..."

"But look at you," interrupted Benny. "You've got that pale, furless skin, and those ugly, long legs, and those shiny, flat teeth, and why, you don't even have wings on your stubby, short fingers!"

"Hey, wait a minute!" said Lenny. "How do you know that? I thought bats were blind."

"Hardly," said Benny. "And I thought that monsters weren't afraid of anything!"

"I am not a monster!" yelled Lenny. "I am just a little boy. And by the way, why were you crying a few minutes ago?"

"Oh, I cry all the time," Benny replied sadly. "How come?" asked Lenny. And so it was that Benny flew down next to Lenny and hung from the rail of the rickety old boat dock. He told Lenny all about the fire monsters, and how they had killed his family. Lenny was very sad for Benny, and by the time the story was over, both of them were crying their eyes out.

Lenny was especially sad when he realized that his dad had probably been one of the "fire monsters" that Benny had seen. Mournfully, he told Benny that the "cave" was actually an old abandoned mine that had been re-opened. The first thing that his dad and the other miners had done upon re-opening the mine was smoke out the hundreds and hundreds of big brown bats that lived in it. The men did that because they were afraid of the bats and didn't want them flying around, getting in their hair, biting them, and drinking their blood. That was so silly. None of the bats that Benny knew did any of that stuff. Benny was even sadder when he realized that his family had died for no good reason. He and Lenny cried and cried some more.

As the days passed, Benny and Lenny spent more time together, and Benny soon stopped crying so much. He and Lenny were unusual pals, to say the least, but they were happy that they had each other to talk to and play with. Lenny's dad worked most of the time, so Lenny and Benny would spend their days making up and telling stories. They chased all kinds of bugs and snakes and things. They played "hide 'n 'seek," and they swam and splashed in the lake.

One day though, Lenny didn't come out to play. Benny hung around all afternoon and night, wondering what had become of his friend. When Lenny didn't come out the second day, Benny went looking for him. He found Lenny lying in his bed in the battered, burnt, and beat-down bungalow that Lenny and his dad had fixed up. He flew to Lenny's bedside, and he could tell right away that something was very wrong.

Lenny's pale skin was even paler. His large eyes were even larger, and kind of reddish looking. When Lenny spoke, Benny could barely hear him. Lenny told Benny how he had gotten sick from being bitten by mosquitoes (Benny's muffleduff maguiters) that hung out over the lake. He also told Benny that lots of people who lived near the lake had gotten the same sickness, and that some had even died from it. As he was talking to Benny, Lenny fell asleep, weak from shaking.

Well Benny didn't know what to do at first. He went home and hung from his rafter in that old broken-down boathouse and he cried, and he cried, and he cried some more. He was feeling pretty sorry for himself because he was about to lose his only friend. Suddenly, a thought crossed Benny's mind. "Hey, I like to eat muffleduff maguiters. Maybe I can eat all of them, and then no one will get sick again." No sooner had the thought crossed his mind than Benny was out over the lake, catching and eating as many muffleduff maguiters as he

Once again, Benny didn't know what to do for his friend. That was when he remembered seeing some evening bats in the abandoned cabin up near the woods. He knew they liked to eat muffleduff maguiters, so he went to ask them for their help. Not only did they agree to help, but they told him where a colony of pipistrelle bats lived, that also liked to eat muffleduff maguiters. Upon finding the pipistrelles, all of the bats flew down to the lake. On the way, Benny saw a few silver-haired bats leaving a tree hollow for the night.

He asked them if they could help him eat the muffleduff maguiters. They said they could, and would also spread the word to the other bats in the woods. It would be like having a great big party, and they were all very excited!

Benny was soon back on the lake with the evening bats and the pipistrelles, darting here and darting there, eating his way through a swarm of muffleduff maguiters. He flashed back through them again, over and under, up and then down, diving and batting, back and forth, back and forth. All of them worked very hard, and they all ate so many of the muffleduff maguiters that Benny thought they surely would be done very soon. Wrong! Poor Benny had to rest for a minute, so he flew up to the rafter in the old broken-down boathouse. It seemed to him that there were even more muffleduff maguiters than when they had started. They were everywhere! Benny was sad and very disheartened. But just when he was about to tell the others not to bother anymore, that it was hopeless, the sky suddenly went dark. Benny looked up and couldn't believe his eyes. The sky was filled with bats, millions of them from the big cave beyond the woods. They flew above the lake. It seemed almost as if the air had wings of its own. Teeth flashing, wings batting, furry bodies darting, then rising, now diving, they fell upon the muffleduff maguiters with such force, and with such relish, that it was soon clear the muffleduff maguiters had finally met their match.

Benny, now rested, joined in. Soon he was making new friends at every turn. Here and there he went, up and down, laughing and cheering, leaping and diving, swooping and rising. All of a sudden he stopped right in mid-air! It had been just for an instant, but hadn't he seen... Could it have been... No, it couldn't be... Yes, it WAS! Benny was suddenly surrounded by his entire family, all of them laughing and screeching. There was his mother and father, and his brothers and sisters, and his cousins, and his nieces and nephews, and his aunts and uncles. There they were, all around him. "How can this be?" he shouted.

In the whirlwind of the winged feast Benny's family explained to him what had happened to them. When the fire monsters had come to the cave with flames and smoke, the bat family had flown to the very back of the cave. They found a crevice which went deeper and deeper into the hillside. Finally, they came to a break in the wall and the next thing they knew, they were outside and free. They hadn't lost a single member of their family except, they thought, Benny!

Oh, Benny was so excited that he nearly forgot where he was and what he was doing. Then he remembered Lenny. Benny told his family all about his new friend, and how Lenny and others had gotten so terribly sick. Benny's family wanted to see this "monster" turned friend. Benny led them to the bungalow, but as they got nearer and nearer, Benny's fears for Lenny returned. Benny only hoped that it was not too late for Lenny to meet his family, and to see that Lenny's dad and the miners had not killed Benny's family after all. When Benny got to Lenny's bedroom window he came to a screeching halt. The bed was empty! They were too late, Lenny was gone. Lenny was gone! Tears came to Benny's eyes once again and, deeply saddened, he turned to go. He was going to miss his "monster" friend.

Suddenly, out of the darkness of night, Benny was startled half to death by a leaping and laughing "monster" right before his very eyes! It was Lenny, and he was all right! The two of them laughed and danced, and leaped and laughed some more. They even laughed at Benny's family, who fled in fear

Lenny told Benny that his dad was very happy the bats ate the mosquitoes that made Lenny sick. His dad was sorry he smoked the cave. Lenny said his dad wasn't afraid of bats anymore because now he knows how helpful they are, and he's hoping Benny's family will stay.

That night, after all the muffleduff maguiters had either been eaten or chased away, Benny's entire family moved into the rafters of that old broken-down boathouse there on the lake, all three hundred of them. From that day to this, not one single person has ever gotten sick from being bitten by a muffleduff maguiter on Big Brown Bat Lake. Benny never cried or was lonely ever again.

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Benny, the Big Brown Bat © 2001 Basically Bats Wildlife Conservation Society, Inc.   All rights reserved.